Spindle control mechanism



Jan. 26, 1965 E. D. MEADOWS 3,165,883

SPINDLE CONTROL MECHANISM Original Filed Nov. 19, 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet 1ATTORNEYS Jan. 26, 1965 E. D. MEADOWS 3,166,883 SPINDLE CONTROLMECHANISM Original Filed Nov. 19; 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 fi BY ATTO R NEYS Jan. 26, 1965 E. D. MEADOWS SPINDLE CONTROL MECHANISM 4 Sheets-Sheet3 Original Filed Nov. 19, 1962 ATTORNEYS Jan. 26, 1965 E. D. MEADOWS3,166,883

SPINDLE CONTROL MECHANISM Original Filed Nov. 19, 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet 4f4 7 NW .HI 3 .1 2

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I /Z 1 I w l HVW ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,166,883 SSPINDLECGNTROL MEQHANISM Ernest D. Meadows, Atlanta, Ga, assignor to MeadowsManufacturing Company, Atlanta, Ga., a corporation of Georgia Originalapplication Nov. 19, 1962, Ser. No. 240,194, now Patent No. 3,116,590,dated Jan. 7, 1964. Divided and this application Apr. 4, 1963, Ser. No.273,258

, 6 Claims. (Cl. 57-88) The invention, generally, relates to mechanismsfor control of twister spindles such as used in the textile industryand, more particularly, to a control mechanism which includes a clutchand brake for a spindle. This application is a division of applicationSerial No. 240,194, filed November 19, 1962, now Patent No. 3,116,590,issued January 7, 1964, which in turn is a continuation in part of myprior application Serial No. 31,131, filed May 23, 1960, now abandoned.

It is customary in the textile industry, to drive several spindles froma common power source, and therefore, problems arise when it is desiredto start and stop selected one or ones of the spindles without affectingthe others. In addition to individual control, it is particularlydesirable to be able to stop any spindle selectively in the shortestpossible time. For example, when several strands are twisted and woundon a common bobbin, a breakage in any one strand must be detected andrepaired at the break to prevent loss of the entire bobbin of yarn aswaste or at least to prevent what is known as dropply (or seconds). Inrunning expensive, or highquality fibers, the waste from dropped ply canbe extensive.

There are known arrangements which permit continued rotation of thedriving members of a stopped bobbin, but such devices require a dividedwharve with a driving part coupled frictionally with a part secured tothe spindle. Frictional couplings, however, are complicatedstructurally, more expensive, require larger forces for this operation,and have a relatively short life.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide aspindle control mechanism which overcomes the above disadvantages.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel spindle structurewhich includes a minimum number of parts and is economical tomanufacture and to operate.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a structuralarrangement for a spindle which is adaptable for accurate control instarting and stopping.

A further object of the invention is to provide a spindle controlmechanism which effectively stops all threads being Wound on a commonspindle when one thread breaks as well as stops the rotation of thespindle without affecting the driving means.

- It is also an object of the invention to provide a control mechanismwhich is susceptible to long life and admits to ready maintenance.

Another object is to provide a novel spindle structure and clutch inwhich false brinnelling of supporting races of ball bearings issubstantially reduced or eliminated.

Briefly, the invention includes a shaft and a driving means supported onthe shaft by an antifriction hearing. A clutch is positioned to couplethe driving means to the shaft through a release linkage so that theclutch is disengaged automatically when any one of possibly severalthreads break.

Coincident with the disengaging of the clutch, the release linkageapplies a brake to stop rotation of the shaft, permitting the drivingmeans to continue rotating due to the antifriction bearing support. Afeeding means for the several threads is interrupted also by the releaselinkage so that a broken thread can be repaired with an utmost inelficiency before operation is continued.

The above and other objects and advantages of the invention will becomemore readily apparent from the following detailed description of apreferred form thereof taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a view in perspective of a spindle constructed in accordancewith the principles of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a view in side elevation, partly in section, of the spindleshown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view in elevation, partly in section, showing a releaselinkage arrangement in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the release linkage arrangement shown in FIG.3;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a reinforcement metal plate which is combinedwith the clutch-brake material;

FIG. 6 is a view in elevation, partly in section, of the ring shown inFIG. 5 after a crimp has been formed in opposite sides thereof;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of an alternativeembodiment of my invention; and

FIG. 8 is an exploded view showing the construction of the spindle ofFIG. 7.

Referring now to one form of the spindle construction as shown in FIG. 1and FIG. 2, the numeral 10 identifies the spindle generally, and thenumeral 11 identifies a suitable support therefor. Extendingsubstantially vertically through an aperture 12 in the support 11 is ashaft 13 which is fixedly mounted on the support 11 by tightening a nut14 against a base flange 15.

The flange 15 is fixedly attached to or formed integrally with a base(or bolster) 16, and the shaft 13 is supported in a substantiallyvertical position within this base or bolster 16 by means of a suitableantifriction bearing 17 so that the shaft 13 may turn freely.

Two bearings 18 and 19, preferably ball bearings are positioned one overthe other and press fitted onto the shaft 13 against a shoulder 20, anda whorl 21 is pressed over the outer rings of the bearings 18 and 19. Asplit ring 22 is inserted in a recess at the upper end of the whorl 21to prevent the whorl 21 from sliding further downwardly over thebearings 18 and 19 once positioned correctly. As is known, a whorl is ofsuflicient mass to function as a flywheel in driving the shaft 13 andprovides a driving means for the device by means of a suitable belt (notshown) placed about the whorl 21 between the spaced apart annularflanges 23 and 24. g

It will be noted that the two bearings 18 and 19 positioned adjacent theupper end of the whorl 21 provide the sole means of support for thewhorl 21 on the shaft 13 and permit the whorl 21 to turn freely aboutthe shaft 13. This structure is preferred in that it admits of ease' andeconomy in manufacture, although a modification may be made in thisarrangement by inserting a sleeve (not shown) between the bearing 18 andthe whorl 21 to extend downwardly so that the bearing 19 then would beplaced between the lower end of such a sleeve and the lower end of thewhorl 21. This arrangement, of course, is slightly more expensive tomanufacture, but is included within the scope of the invention.

Also pressed onto the shaft 13 is an annular toothed disc 25 havingteeth which mesh with an annular ring 26 pressed into-or formedintegrally with a clutch-brake part 27. By this arrangement, the part 27is fixed rotatably to the shaft 13 but is slidable axially relativethereto.

The clutch-brake part 27 is shaped somewhat like an inverted cup withthe inner surface 28 adjacent the lower rim 29 being inclined at a smallangle, for example, approximately ten degrees. The upper, peripheral 3surface 3% of the whorl 21 is inclined to match the surface 28 of theclutch-brake part 27, as seen in FIG. 1.

A flange 31 extends outwardly around the clutch-brake part 27 and reactswith a ring 32 to serve as a brake when the part 27 is raised verticallyfrom the position as viewed in FIG. 1. The braking action between theflanges 31 and 32 will be described in greater detail presently.

The clutch-brake part 27 may be formed of any suitable material.However, it has been found that metal is not a particularly desirablematerial from which to form the part 27 since the whorl 21 iscustomarily metallic and metal-to-metal contact has a tendency to stick.A better material from which to form the part 27 is believed to be aplastic such as a phenolic resin with a proper filler, preferablyasbestos although other filler materials may be used if desired. Also,the filler material may be only the lower portion of the part 27 or onlyin the rim 29 and fiange 31 portions of the part 27 since it is theseportions that encounter the most wear. Of course, the filler materialmay be dispersed uniformly through the entire part if it is so desired.

The upper edge 33 of the part 27 is subject to sharp blows by, forexample, the dropping of a bobbin about the upper end of the shaft 13 ora lateral blow against the edge 34. Therefore, the upper edge 33 of thepart 27 preferably is reinforced by a metal ring 35 (FIGS. and 6) Asbest seen in FIG. 5 the ring is formed flat initially and is somewhateliptical in shape. However, a raised, substantially U-shaped part 36 isformed in the ring 35, as by a crimping action in diametrically oppositepositions indicated generally by the dotted lines 36a in FIG. 5. Thecrimp 36 will appear in cross section as seen in FIG. 6 of the drawings,and the formation of this crimp 36 serves to draw the eliptical shape ofthe ring 35 into a substantially circular configuration.

In the manufacture of the clutch-brake part 27, a ring 35 having twocrimps 36 already formed therein is inverted with the crimps 36extending downwardly and is placed in a suitable mold. The plasticmaterial to form the part 27 then is poured into the mold and flows intothe apertures 37 forming an intimate bond with the ring 35. Since thereis no aperture in the end 33 of each crimp 36, the end 38 will present ametallic sur face against which a bobbin would hear when slipped overthe. shaft '13.

The brake flange 32 is metallic, preferably and is an integral part of ahousing 39 which fits over the device 10. The housing 39 includes twoparts, a lower part 4!? and a cover part 41. The lower part 40 isU-shaped and is gripped between the base flange 15 and the nut 1 Thecover 41, on the other hand, is provided with outwardly turned books 42and 43, and a trunk-type latch 44 having a loose link 45 is provided todetachably secure the cover 41 on the base 40. The latch 44 is pivotableabout an axis 46 fixed to the base 4%, and the loose link 45 ispivotable about an axis 47 adjacent the outer end 48 of the latch 44 sothat when the end 48 is pivoted outwardly and upwardly about the axis46, the axis 47 is raised to permit the upper end 49 to engage the book42. This having been accomplished, the end 45 is rotated back toward thebase 4-0 to secure the cover 41 firmly in place. A latch 50 constructedsimi larly to that just described above is positioned to cooperate withthe hook 43 in the same manner also.

A ring 51, preferably metal, is positioned about the clutch-brake part27 beneath the flange 31 and is pro vided with outwardly extendingprojections 52 and 53. The central opening 54 of the ring 51 is largerthan the periphery of the part 27 so that it fits loosely thereaboutand, thus, will rest upon a U-shaped member 55. The projections 52 and53 extend through slotted openings 56 and 57, respectively, to preventrotation of the disc 51.

A lever 58 extends outwardly through the opening and is pivotable at apoint indicated by the numeral 59.

Thus, when the lever 58 is pivoted counterclockwise about the point 553the U-shaped member 55 presses the ring 51 upwardly against the flange31 to disengage the clutch surfaces 28, 3t and a continuation of thisupward movement presses the flange 31 against a brake ring 32.Therefore, it may be seen that the ring 51, being nonrotating, preventswear on the ends 60 of the U-shaped member 55, all wear being betweenthe flange 31 and the ring 51.

Since the clutch-brake part 27 is formed of a plastic material or atleast a material which is softer than the material of which the whorl 21and the brake ring 32 are formed, the part 27 will receive most of thewear. This is an advantage in accordance with the invention since thepart 27 is easily replaced and is the least expensive part when comparedwith the whorl 21 and the brake surface 32.

To replace a worn clutch-brake part 27, the trunktype latches arereleased by a flick of the finger (requiring no tools or otherinstruments) and the cover 41 is lifted off. The part 27, then, iscompletely exposed and is removed by simply raising it upwardly over theshaft 33. Before replacing the part 27 with a new part, it should benoted that the bearings 18 and 19 now are exposed so that they may beoiled readily or otherwise serviced. With a new part 27 slipped over theshaft 13 and the tooth members 25 and 26 in mesh, the cover 41 isreplaced and the trunk-type latches 44 and 50 are hooked to complete therenewal operation.

In the operation of the spindle it the whorl 21 functions as the drivingmeans with a suitable belt (not shown) in frictional engagementtherewith between the flange 23 and 24. With the lever 58 rotatedclockwise, as viewed in FIG. 1, about the pivot point 5?, the clutchsurfaces 28 and 30 will be engaged so that the whorl 21 which rotatesfreely about the shaft 13 due to the bearings 18 and 19 will drive theshaft 13 through the part 27 which is fixed to the shaft 13 by the toothmembers 25 and 26.

When it is desired to stop rotation of the shaft 13, the lever 58 isrotated counterclockwise about the point 59', the ends 6% of theU-shaped part 55 press the ring 51 upwardly against the under side ofthe flange 31 moving the part 27 upwardly and disengaging the clutchsurfaces 28 and 30. With the surfaces 28 and 30 disengaged, the whorl 21is free to continue rotation, and other spindles driven by the same beltas that which drives the whorl 21 will continue rotation withoutinterruption. Braking is achieved by moving the flange 31 upwardlyfurther to engage the brake ring 32 and the rotation of the shaft 13 isstopped thereby.

It is important, therefore, that the lever 58 be operated in theappropriate manner to control the action of the shaft 13, either tocause rotation by clutching with the whorl driving means 21 or bystopping rotation by braking against brake ring 32. Since the presentinvention contemplates not only the stopping of rotation of shaft 13,but also at the same time stopping the feeding of threads to a bobbin(not shown) supported on the shaft 13, a release linkage is provided tocoordinate these two braking actions.

A release linkage is indicated generally by the numeral 7t; in FIG. 3 ofthe drawings. A vertical rod 71 (FIGS. 1 and 3) is attached at its lowerend to a pin 72 through the outer end of the lever 58 of the spindlemechanism It". The rod 71 extends upwardly through an elongated opening73 (FIG. 3} in a flange 74 which forms a portion of the base of themachine, A coil compression spring '75 is inserted about the rod 71between the flange 74 and a ring 76 to urge the rod 71 downwardly.Tension on the spring may be adjusted by loosening a screw 77 andaltering the position of the ring 76. In this manner the rod 71 iscontinuously urged downwardly.

The upper end of the rod 71 as viewed in FIG. 3, is attached by means ofa pin 73 to one end of a lever 79.

The lever 79 in turn is pivot-able about an axis 80, and the oppositeend of the lever '79 from the pin 78 is provided with a handle 81.Therefore, the normal tendency is for the lever 79 to be urged in acounterclockwise position from that shown in FIG. 3 by the pulling onrod 71 due to the spring 75, which action tends to raise the handle 81.

However, rotation of the lever 79 is prevented by a hooked surface 82engaged with a matching surface 83. Therefore, it may be seen that toengage the clutch surfaces 28 and 30 (FIG. 2), the handle 81 (FIG. 3) ispulled downwardly pivoting the lever 79 about the pin 80 raising the rod71 upwardly and pivoting the lever 58 clockwise about the point 59. Thelinkages are maintained in this position by the hooked surfaces 82 and83.

The surface 82 is formed at one end of a linkage 84 which is pivotedabout a pin 85, and the opposite end of the linkage 84 from the hookedsurface 82 is attached to a block 86 by a pin 87. Furthermore, a tensionspring 88 is attached between an .arm 89 extending from the linkage 84and a screw 90 on the base of the machine so that the linkage 84 iscustomarily urged .in a counterclockwise direction.

An arm 91 is fixedly attached to a continuously oscillating shaft 92 sothat the end 93 moves from the position shown in solid lines in FIG. 3of the drawings to the dotted position indicated by the numeral 93. Withthe block 86 in its vertical position as shown in FIG. 3, a projection94 on the oscillating arm 91 will miss the block 86 at the upper extentof its stroke and, therefore, no releasing action of the hooked surfaces82 and 83 is accomplished.

However, a guide arm 95 extends from the upper end thereof. The upperend of the block 86 is provided with a weight 98 attached thereto tourge the block 86 in rotation clockwise about the pin 87 so that abreakage occurring in the thread 96 permits the block 86 to pivot clock-Wise moving the lower end thereof into the path of the projection 94.

When the projection 94 strikes the lower end of the block 86, thelinkage 84 is pivoted clockwise about the pin 85, and the hooked surface82 is moved from under the hooked surface 83 thereby permitting the coilspring 75 to snap the rod 71 downwardly. The outer surface 98' of thehook 82 is elongated so that the surface 99 of the hook 83 comes to restt'hereagainst.

A feed means for a thread 96 is obtained by passing the thread 96 arounda portion of the periphery of a roller 100 and up over an idler roller101. The roller 100 is driven by a suitable power source (not shown)connected to the shaft 183.

Since the thread 96 passes .about only a small portion of the peripheryof the drive roller 100, insufiicient force is obtained by this contactalone to feed the thread 96 to a bobbin (not shown) on the shaft 13. Thedriving force for the thread 96, therefore, is obtained by pressing thethread 96 against the drive roller 100 at point 105 by the.

weight of the idler roller 101. 7

Upon release of the hooked surface 83 and the pivot of the linkage 79counterclockwise, the handle 81 is raised thereby raising idler roller101 to release the thread at the point 105. The driving force,therefore, being removed, movement of the thread 96 stops instantly, andthis stoppage is coordinated efiectively with the disengaging of theclutch surfaces 28 and 30 and the engaging of the flange 31 with thebrake ring 32.

As best seen in FIG. 4 of the drawings, a plurality of guide loops 97,97' 97 are-positioned to guide individual threads to pass through acommon guide loop 107 so that all of the threads pass about the idlerroller 101. Since the hooked surfaces 82 and 83 are common to all of thethreads, the raising of the idler roller 101 will stop the feed of allthreads at the same time. Therefore, breakage of one thread stops thefeed of all threads which are being twisted to form a strand.

Occasionally the bobbin does not rotate uniformly about the longtiudinalaxis and vertical vibrations occur which cause frictional movement orultrasonic vibration between the balls and the ball races which supportthe 5 whorl. The vertical vibrations are applied by the balls to theball races and result in eccentric wear or false brinnelling of theraces. I believe that such eccentric wear takes place because thecomplete bearings are turning as a unit with the whorl, meaning that theballs are not changing position in the ball races except when thespindle is braked to a stop.

The alternative and preferred embodiment of FIGS. 7-8 substantiallyeliminates such eccentric wear. Referring to FIG. 7, the entiremechanism is similar to that of FIG. 2 with like numerals correspondingto identical parts,

as will be apparent as this description proceeds.

The support 11 (FIG. 2) carries a central cylindrical spindle blade 110(FIG. 7). A hollow spindle sleeve 111 surrounds the spindle blade oversubstantially the entire length thereof. The spindle sleeve 111 isintegrally and securely joined to the upper clutch brake part by meansof a splined connection or by the annular toothed disc 25, allowingvertical movement as previously described.

The whorl 121 is essentially similar to whorl 21 but has an inner partformed as a radially, inwardly extending ring 122 which grips spindleblade 110.

A first ball bearing 125 is positioned external to spindle sleeve 111 atits lower end. When the sleeve 111 is pressed into the central upperwhorl cavity 123, the outer race is press fitted and secured to whorl121.

A second ball bearing 138 is positioned internal to sleeve 111 and hasan inner race which is press fitted onto a stud 131 at the top ofspindle blade 118. The sleeve 111 is actually slip fitted on the outerrace of bearing 131. A

cap 132 having a lubrication hole 134 and felt washer 133 cover theassembly. The cap and the sleeve 111 give the same appearance as a solidspindle blade.

In operation, when clutched, the whorl 121 frictionally engages part 27which is secured to sleeve 110 by the spline 25. Thus the spindle blade,whorl, and spindle sleeve rotate in unison. During braking, whorl 121and part 27 are disengaged and the whorl and spindle blade rotateindependently of the sleeve 111, which is braked by the action of flange31 against ring 32. The inner diameter of the sleeve 111 is slightlylarger than the outer diameter of the spindle blade 110 to leavesufiicient room for the blade to revolve inside the sleeve.

The ball bearings 125 and 131 serve as an addition to the spindle bladefor keeping the bobbin in a vertical position. These bearings carry novertical, or thrust load at any time since the sleeve and bobbin arefree to slide up and down on the tubing when any vertical vibrationoccurs and, of course, for removing the bobbin from the spindle.

A preferred form of the invention having been described and illustrated,it is understood that modifications and alterations may be made by oneskilled in the art in view of this description and illustration, and itis understood that all such modifications and alterations are within thescope and spirit of the invention as defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A spindle mechanism comprising a spindle blade,

means rotatably supporting said spindle blade,

a whorl secured to said blade,

1a spindle sleeve surrounding said blade,

a first ball bearing between said blade and sleeve,

a second ball bearing between said sleeve and said whorl,

clutch disc means secured to said spindle sleeve and mounted for axialmovement to engage and disengage said whorl,

braking means, and

means to move said disc means into engagement with said whorl, or out ofengagement with said whorl and into engagement with said braking means.2. The mechanism of claim 1 in which said clutch disc means is annularand is secured to said spindle sleeve by a vertically, movable splineconnection.

3. The mechanism of claim 1 in which said clutch disc means has atapering annular recess, the walls of which are adapted'to engage a partof the outer surface of said whorl.

4. The mechanism of claim 1 in which said clutch dii means includes aninverted, substantially cup-shaped member formed of a non-metallicmaterial,

at least two raised portions spaced apart diametrically at the uppersurface of said inverted, cup-shaped member to support a bobbin on saidsleeve,

and each ofsaid raised portions being reinforced with a metallic member.

5. The spindle mechanism of claim 1 in which said supporting meansincludes a base member and a cover member,

said' base member having a substantially fiat portion with an aperturetherein to receive said blade,

upright portions extending from said substantially llat portion,

means at the upper end of said upright portions adapted to support saidcover member,

and latch means attached to each of said upright portions to releasablyattach said two members together.

6. The spindle mechanism of claim 1 in which said 10 first ball bearingis located substantially at the top of said spindle blade and saidsecond ball bearing is located towards the bottom of said spindle blade,

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,780,049 Findlow Feb. 5, 1957 2,940,246 Birkigt June 14, 1960 2,975,584Makant et al Mar. 21, 196i FOREIGN PATENTS 192,235 Great Britain Feb. 1,1923 429,232 Great Britain May 27, 1935 864,000 Great Britain Mar. 29,1961

1. A SPINDLE MECHANISM COMPRISING A SPINDLE BLADE, MEANS ROTATABLYSUPPORTING SAID SPINDLE BLADE, A WHORL SECURED TO SAID BLADE, A SPINDLESLEEVE SURROUNDING SAID BLADE, A FIRST BALL BEARING BETWEEN SAID SLEEVEAND SAID A SECOND BALL BEARING BETWEEN SAID SLEEVE AND SAID WHORL,CLUTCH DISC MEANS SECURED TO SAID SPINDLE SLEEVE AND MOUNTED FOR AXIALMOVEMENT TO ENGAGE AND DISENGAGE SAID WHORL, BRAKING MEANS, AND MEANS TOMOVE SAID DISC MEANS INTO ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID WHORL, OR OUT OFENGAGEMENT WITH SAID WHORL AND INTO ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID BRAKING MEANS.